Agencies
England, adopting a cautious approach right towards the end of their second innings, set India a huge target of 420 to win the Chennai Test on Monday. England were expected to give themselves more overs to defend the target.
However, they bowled only 13 overs at the hosts before the close of Day 4 and will have another 90 on the final day to try and get a series lead. At stumps, India were 39/1, requiring another 381 runs for victory.
After the tea break, England were expected to fetch a few quick runs before opting for the declaration. However, the visitors left everyone puzzled with their tactics after Ollie Pope’s dismissal. Having made 133 in 29 overs, England suddenly motored along only just above two runs an over. Not only were they not pushing the score, they were also eating up precious time that they would have needed to bowl India out in the second innings. Adopting a safety first approach, England eventually took the lead past 400 before Ashwin came back into the attack to polish off the tail and pick up a five-wicket haul for the 28th time in his career.
One has to wonder when England had plans to declare if not for Ashwin picking up those last two wickets in quick time. Chasing 420 for an unlikely win, India were jolted early before stumps. Having won his battle against Jofra Archer where he pulled the pacer in an authoritative manner for a six, Rohit Sharma fell to Leach. Pitching on a good length, the ball spun away from the batsman to beat his outside edge and crash into the off stump. While Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill did well to bat out the tricky few overs before stumps, pulling off another heist similar to the one in Gabba is looking unlikely at this stage.
